Misplaced Admiration
by Creepy Mae West Kozi
Summary: Agni had initially believed in Sebastian as a kindred spirit; a troubled man who had found contentment in the duty and care of a precious person. And then he was horrified by Sebastian's true nature.Gen fic.NO SLASH.Rated for Violence and Seb being evil.


Title: Misplaced Admiration

Author: Creepy Mae West Kozi

Summary: Agni had initially believed in Sebastian as a kindred spirit; a troubled man who had found contentment in the duty and care of a precious person. He was inspired by the man's uncanny ability to provide for his employer and aspired to reach a similar ability to carry out his duties to his with flair and perfection. And then he was horrified by Sebastian's true nature.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. No monetary profit is being made. I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its affiliates.

* * *

Prince Soma admired the Earl Phantomhive. Despite his young age he was intellectual and wise in matters of social and personal importance, and carried himself with an air of confidence and power that the 26th son of the ruler of Bengal could not help but be amazed. Ciel Phantomhive was grace and strength incarnate, an image of the kind of royalty Soma had once believed himself to be.

He admired his friend and the unwavering devotion of the butler, Sebastian, reminded him of a similar devotion to himself from his servant Agni. The similarities between them and the Lord and Valet of the Phantomhive household made it easy to see a parallel between his admiration for Ciel, and Agni's admiration for Sebastian.

Because Agni did look up to the elder servant.

Sebastian's devotion towards his employer was intense to witness; his eyes constantly tracked Ciel, and the stance he took in the presence of strangers was always poised for defence - something Agni could spot with his martial arts training. It seemed to him that Sebastian was there as his master's constant shield, rebuffing both physical and verbal attacks with feline grace.

He always performed the tasks given to him with the utmost perfection and timeliness. In Agni's eyes, Sebastian was what he aspired to achieve in himself as a servant.

Unwavering loyalty, and an unparalleled sense and capability for his duties and responsibilities as the servant of his master.

Agni saw everything he hoped to be in Sebastian...and then there was the incident.

* * *

As high profile figures in the political and social communities being the target of an assassination attempt was not unheard of. As the official watch dog of England's criminal underground the Phantomhive household was not unused to such attempts.

The man had been contracted by one of the several branches of the Underground to remove the Earl Phantomhive and had managed to enter the London penthouse during one of their semi-frequent visits to Soma and Agni. He had burst through the door and immediately Agni had flattened his master to the floor to avoid any hostile fire, half-expecting Sebastian to do the same for his own master; to shield them from harm.

But looking up at the side of the table where the Earl sat he was dumfounded.

The Earl appeared bored, but resigned to the situation as he almost lounged in the dining chair as if it were a throne. And Sebastian appeared excited like an eager puppy – his mouth was curved in a pleased smile and his eyes were bright with some unknown emotion. To Agni's trained eye he appeared coiled and ready to strike, but there was no fear in those eyes. No worry for his master's safety.

To Agni if appeared as though Sebastian cared not if Ciel was there at all. That the butler was poised to attack and not to defend.

Mere seconds after the door had opened, the hit man fired the first volley of shots.

Soma cried out and Agni winced for Ciel was exposed openly to the danger. And then they heard the strangled shout from the attacker.

"What!?"

Somehow Sebastian had caught the bullets. It seemed impossible, and in principle, unbelievable, but Ciel Phantomhive only blinked slowly as this was a normal occurrence. The darkly clad Sebastian was slightly bent at the waist in a half bow behind the dining chair with his arm curved possessively in front of Ciel, and his hand palm up displaying the metal slugs.

Agni couldn't help but note that there was nothing protective in his stance at all.

"Young master," Sebastian drawled, his voice dripping with what could only be insolence and malice – a tone which horrified Agni as it revealed just how far his glowing assessment of Sebastian was from this horrid reality - "what will you Order me to do?" Sebastian licked his lips and an odd light was reflected in his eyes.

The Earl Phantomhive, the Queen's Watchdog, smirked with dark, sardonic humour.

"Sebastian...have him tell us who sent him...and then do what you want with him."

"Yes," he intoned, "my Lord."

The butler grinned and Agni inhaled sharply because Sebastian's eyes were glowing with an iridescent red hue and he looked both handsome and terrible at once. Sebastian closed his open palm into a fist and straightened before lunging forward towards the assassin who had been frozen in shock, throwing his captures bullets at the man.

Three distinct impacts were heard and the man fell to the floor clutch his bleeding hand to his chest and unable to stand with bullet wounds to his feet. Non-fatal impacts.

Sebastian stalked forward, smiling a close-lipped grin that squinted his eyes almost closed as he asked, "who holds the leash on your collar, dog?" The attacker shook his head, his eyes tearing from the pain of his wounds as the butler stalked forward before crouching down onto once knee and almost gently cupping the man's face in his gloved hands.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me?" he enquired with saccharine sweetness, trailing one of his hands to the man's wounded one before grasping it in a feather-light grip. The assassin stayed silent with fear, only small whimpers of pain audible in his heightened breathing.

"I see," Sebastian smirked before clamping on the mans wounded hand and twisting.

The assassin screamed in pain and fear as the butler licked his lips and grinned wider still.

"How about now?"

The attacker spilled everything. Sebastian seemed to be listening idly while in contrast Ciel's attention was upon every word.

Eventually the man ran out of things to say and simply hung from Sebastian's grasp in terror as the butler turned to ask, "Is there anything else, my Lord?"

And Ciel sighed in an almost exasperated way. "Go on ahead and have your fun. But please do it in another room, and try to keep it down. Last time I had a headache," he drawled.

"My apologies master." And Sebastian dragged the man to his wounded feet and began to lead him out of the room, a terrible and cruel expression lighting his features.

Agni could not keep silent any longer, and reluctantly let his master out from his protection and spoke haltingly.

"Lord Ciel, Sebastian? Wha - ?"

Sebastian's paused only momentarily. "After all," he smirked, "I am one _hell_ of a butler." He then proceeded in dragging the other man to his doom.

Moments after the door closed upon his exit the heard a blood-curdling scream of pain and fear so profound it sent a shiver up Agni's spine.

He had misjudged Sebastian greatly. It appeared his motivation in serving the Earl Phantomhive involved very little on the sides of devotion and responsibility, and more into his own amusement and cruel entertainment.

He looked at Ciel, the on his master admired, for guidance, but the one-eyes child simply regarded him coldly and spoke in a low, icy tone.

"Remember, Soma, Agni, that appearances are...deceiving. I am the Queen's Watchdog, the Evil Nobleman, and I am not a kind child; and Sebastian...views humans as nothing more than _food_."

He stood regally posed with his confidence and arrogance wrapped about him like a cloak, his ornate cane appearing as a regal sceptre.

"Despite myself, I consider you friends...but don't blind yourself to our nature. We are sharks in the Queen's pond."

And Agni no longer looked up to Sebastian.

_fin._


End file.
